1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical tomographic image generation method and an optical tomographic image generation apparatus that are used for generating a tomographic image of an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imaging apparatus using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in which interference of low coherent light is utilized (hereinafter, also referred to as OCT apparatus) is now put into practical use. This imaging apparatus is capable of acquiring a tomographic image at a depth resolution of several micrometers, which leads to high-resolution imaging of a tomographic image of an object.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-237238 discloses an optical image measurement device that is intended to improve image quality of an image to be formed. This device forms multiple tomographic images of an eye fundus and stores the formed images. Then, one of the tomographic images and a tomographic image adjacent thereto are used for an arithmetic operation, to thereby form a new tomographic image. As a result, the image quality of the formed image can be improved.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-237238 described above, the image quality is improved to some extent, but is not improved sufficiently. Particularly in a case where the object moves, its position varies between the tomographic images, which raises a risk that signal waveforms are rounded.
Therefore, further improvement in image quality is demanded.